Wheels of progress are turning for Hispanic college football players in Texas

September 3, 2009By David Flores

For years, Hispanics have lamented the dearth of Hispanic college football players in Texas, especially at the bigger schools.

Throughout my 32-year career as a sportswriter, it’s a question that has perplexed Hispanic sports fans in all corners of the state. Of course, they have reason to wonder why there aren’t more Hispanics in the college ranks.

After all, this is a big state with a large percentage of Hispanics who play high school football.

I’m not going to address the issue of why there aren’t more Hispanics playing at Texas colleges today. That’s another column for another day.

Instead, I’m going to focus on a university in our back yard that has a significant number of Hispanics on its football team.

When Incarnate Word announced in 2007 that it was adding football to its athletic program, high school coaches across the area applauded the move. They said UIW’s scholarship program would provide another opportunity for more kids to attend college and play college football.

When coach Mike Santiago said the Cardinals would concentrate most of their recruiting in the San Antonio area, it stood to reason UIW’s opening-game roster would include Hispanics.

It did.

When the Cardinals took the field Aug. 29 for their first game ever, 24 Hispanics were on the team’s 84-man roster.

Eight Hispanics, four on offense and four on defense, started in UIW’s wild 42-39 victory over Monterrey Tech before a crowd of 6,235 at Benson Field.

Three of the Hispanic starters play on the offensive line, center Patrick Martinez (Reagan) and guards Michael Palacios (Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial) and Charles Segura (McCollum). Segura is a sophomore, Palacios is a redshirt freshman and Martinez is a freshman.

On defense, junior Herman Torres (Marshall) started at end, sophomore Diego McClain (Highlands) at linebacker, redshirt freshman Tyler Fields (Southwest) at linebacker and sophomore Aaron Hernandez (Smithson Valley) at free safety. Fields led the defense with six unassisted tackles and two assists.

Cornerback James Perez, a redshirt freshman from Fredericksburg, didn’t start but he wound up playing more than starter Matt Sanders. It’s also worth noting that junior Ephraim Banda of Taft served as captain of the special teams.

Santiago spoke in general terms when he was asked to comment on what it means for San Antonio to have a college football team with such a good representation of Hispanics.

“Bluntly, we don’t look at that,” Santiago said. “We don’t care about a kids’ color, ethnicity or religion. We recruit the best football players. Some of the best players that we saw were Hispanic.”

While Santiago won’t talk about it, he has to know that having a significant number of Hispanics on his team can’t hurt at the gate when your university is in a city synonymous with the Hispanic culture. And the Cardinals, who will compete as an NCAA Division II independent for one season before moving into the Lone Star Conference next year, need all the support they can get.

To be clear: This city has proven it is color blind when it comes to supporting its sports teams. And there’s no reason to believe that wonderful quality ever will change.

That there are so many Hispanics on the UIW team should inspire Hispanic high school players to work hard on the field and in the classroom. The Cards’ program represents another chance to fulfill a dream.

The Hispanics at UIW owe it to themselves, their families and, yes, their community to take advantage of the opportunity to play college football and get a degree.

The wheels of progress move slowly, but it’s always neat to see them turn.

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Wheels of progress are turning for Hispanic college football players in Texas

September 3, 2009By David Flores

For years, Hispanics have lamented the dearth of Hispanic college football players in Texas, especially at the bigger schools.

Throughout my 32-year career as a sportswriter, it’s a question that has perplexed Hispanic sports fans in all corners of the state. Of course, they have reason to wonder why there aren’t more Hispanics in the college ranks.

After all, this is a big state with a large percentage of Hispanics who play high school football.

I’m not going to address the issue of why there aren’t more Hispanics playing at Texas colleges today. That’s another column for another day.

Instead, I’m going to focus on a university in our back yard that has a significant number of Hispanics on its football team.

When Incarnate Word announced in 2007 that it was adding football to its athletic program, high school coaches across the area applauded the move. They said UIW’s scholarship program would provide another opportunity for more kids to attend college and play college football.

When coach Mike Santiago said the Cardinals would concentrate most of their recruiting in the San Antonio area, it stood to reason UIW’s opening-game roster would include Hispanics.

It did.

When the Cardinals took the field Aug. 29 for their first game ever, 24 Hispanics were on the team’s 84-man roster.

Eight Hispanics, four on offense and four on defense, started in UIW’s wild 42-39 victory over Monterrey Tech before a crowd of 6,235 at Benson Field.

Three of the Hispanic starters play on the offensive line, center Patrick Martinez (Reagan) and guards Michael Palacios (Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial) and Charles Segura (McCollum). Segura is a sophomore, Palacios is a redshirt freshman and Martinez is a freshman.

On defense, junior Herman Torres (Marshall) started at end, sophomore Diego McClain (Highlands) at linebacker, redshirt freshman Tyler Fields (Southwest) at linebacker and sophomore Aaron Hernandez (Smithson Valley) at free safety. Fields led the defense with six unassisted tackles and two assists.

Cornerback James Perez, a redshirt freshman from Fredericksburg, didn’t start but he wound up playing more than starter Matt Sanders. It’s also worth noting that junior Ephraim Banda of Taft served as captain of the special teams.

Santiago spoke in general terms when he was asked to comment on what it means for San Antonio to have a college football team with such a good representation of Hispanics.

“Bluntly, we don’t look at that,” Santiago said. “We don’t care about a kids’ color, ethnicity or religion. We recruit the best football players. Some of the best players that we saw were Hispanic.”

While Santiago won’t talk about it, he has to know that having a significant number of Hispanics on his team can’t hurt at the gate when your university is in a city synonymous with the Hispanic culture. And the Cardinals, who will compete as an NCAA Division II independent for one season before moving into the Lone Star Conference next year, need all the support they can get.

To be clear: This city has proven it is color blind when it comes to supporting its sports teams. And there’s no reason to believe that wonderful quality ever will change.

That there are so many Hispanics on the UIW team should inspire Hispanic high school players to work hard on the field and in the classroom. The Cards’ program represents another chance to fulfill a dream.

The Hispanics at UIW owe it to themselves, their families and, yes, their community to take advantage of the opportunity to play college football and get a degree.

The wheels of progress move slowly, but it’s always neat to see them turn.